In order to provide a satisfactory fabric for use in upholstered furniture and the like, it is the common practice to weave the fabric of a fairly heavy yarn and with a sufficient number of picks or filling yarns and ends or warp yarns to produce a substantially "closed" fabric which is provided with a relatively heavy coating or backing of latex material. When a heavy and closely woven fabric of this type is provided, the latex coating does not "bleed" through and to the face side of the upholstery fabric. However, this type of closely woven upholstery fabric is heavy and relatively stiff, making it difficult to apply to certain portions of upholstered furniture and giving the fabric a rather stiff and harsh hand. Also, the weaving of this type of fabric requires a substantial weight of yarn, making the fabric expensive to produce.
In an attempt to reduce the weight, stiffness and cost of this type of fabric, a loosely woven or open type fabric has been needled so that some of the fibers from the face side of the fabric are forced through to the reverse side, thereby interconnecting the filling and warp yarns at the crossovers to add stability to the fabric. The needling also provides a fuzzy or nappy rear face on the fabric which tends to cover the rather large interstices or openings between the yarns of the loosely woven fabric so that the tendency of the latex coating to bleed through the fabric is reduced. However, this type of needled loosely woven fabric still requires a relatively heavy coating or backing of latex. Also, in some open weave fabrics, the latex coating still passes through and is visible on the face side of the fabric.
It has also been proposed to adhesively secure a nonwoven scrim to the back or reverse side of a loosely woven fabric. However, the fibers of the woven fabric and the nonwoven scrim are not integrated and the adhesive has not been completely effective to adhere the nonwoven scrim to the loosely woven fabric so that separation between the nonwoven scrim and the loosely woven fabric frequently occurs.